King of the Cage: Will Power Recap, Official Results and Photographs

Albuquerque, NM (Monday August 15, 2016) — On Saturday, August 13, 2016, King of the Cage returned to Embassy Suites Albuquerque Hotel & Spa in New Mexico. This event will be broadcast in over 50 million U.S. households on MAVTV (214 DIRECTV, 810 Verizon FiOS). Check your local cable provider for cable station in your area. This card was stacked with 10 Amateur fights and 4 Pro fights including the KOTC SW Amateur 155lb Title bout.

If you never been to King of the Cage fight then you need to make it a point to go. KOTC never disappoints as they are always putting on excellent events. The match maker for this event was non other than Jonathon Judy and veteran MMA Coach and Manager, Tom Vaughn, as he is now the new matchmaker for the promotion for all shows on the East Coast and Midwest. To read more about Toms new position you can read the article by clicking here.

Lets start with the Pro Card…

In the Main Event, Steve Hanna from Albuquerque, New Mexico (FIT NHB’s NM Wildbunch) fought Cesar Zamarippa from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (Ragnarok MMA). This fight started off with both fighters swinging for the fences. Not wasting time trying to finish one another. In Round 1 both fighters started ferling out one another until Steve takes Cesars back to the fence, with knees and punches Steve finally gets the opportunity to take Cesar down. Steve ends on-top, both fighters scrambling for position but somehow Cesar muscles Steve to end up on their feet. In Round 2 they clinch again and Steve takes Cesar down to the mat to end on-top Steve starts ground and pound and Cesar mistakenly gives Steve his back as he sinks in the rear-naked choke Cesar taps in Round 2 at the 4:32 mark.

In the Co-Main Event, was a battle of the 130 lb. Flyweight Division. Turrell “Freakstrong” Galloway from Albuquerque, New Mexico (FIT NHB’S NM Wildbunch) went up against Jordan Hernandez from Oneida, Kansas (Hernandez MMA). In Round 1, Terrell wastes no time and takes Jordan down with a double leg takedown. Terrell was dropping elbows but Jordan was protecting himself since there was really no action the ref stands them up. This is where Terrell started throwing punches until one of them connects and down goes Jordan out cold. Terrell def. Jordan in Round 1 by KO at the 2:07 mark.

The main pro card started off with a female fight. Shana Dobson who took on Nicco Montano. In all 3 rounds these women gave it all in the cage. Nothing but non stop action. Both fighters started off feeling one another out but that ended quickly as Nicco started letting loose with her punches to the point she takes Shana to the mat. Throughout the entire 3 rounds was pretty much the same, at one point in round 2 Nicco got cut on top of her right eye, the ref stopped the fight to get it checked, the Dr. let the fight continue. This fight was all action a back and forth battle but at the end Nicco def. Shana by unanimous decision (30-27 x3).

Also fighting in the main card was the 205 lb. Heavyweight Division as Josh Moreno from Albuquerque, New Mexico (Judgment MMA) taking on Mike Cook from Denver, Colorado (Child’s Play MMA). Moreno made his professional debut as he was undefeated in his amateur career. If you blinked then you missed this fight. It was so fast that it only took Josh 32 seconds in Round 1 to def. Mike by strikes.

On to the Amateur bouts….

These amateurs did not disappoint. These fighters know how to put on a show. The first fight of the night was Dakota coleman vs. Josh Romero. Both fighters came in to the center of the cage as they both came in trying to take each other out. Josh takes Dakota down and starts dropping devasting elbows until Dakota taps. Josh def. Dakota in Round 1 by tapout via elbow strikes. Anthony Chaves took on Francisco Dominguez in a fast past fight. So fast that Anthony takes down Francisco and ends up defeating him with a deep triangle choke at the 1:26 mark in Round 1. Up next was Sam Martin who took on Ryan Davila another fight that ended quickly, with just 2:50 into the first round Ryan takes down Sam and def. him with a triangle choke. Next was Ambrose Vigil vs. Justin Michael Salazar another fight that only lasted 2:28 due to Justin finishing Ambrose in a rear-naked choke.

Up next was Nathan Boyer vs. Nikko Nathan. This fight did last all 3 rounds. This fight was full of action with both fighters coming in hot. The fight started off with Nathan kicking Nikkos left leg throughout the first round but Nikko is tough as nails taking those kicks like a true warrior. Nikko also started tagging Nathan with straight punches to kicks to even attempting spinning back fists. In Rounds 2 and 3 they come in swinging trying to finish one another these rounds were full of action to cup checks. Nikko showed patience in the last 2 rounds and ignoring the taunting that Nathan was doing as Nikko just kept on fighting and sticking to his game plan which it showed being that he was the one taking in charge of the fight. Nikko def. Nathan via unanimous decision (29-28).

Another fight that went all three rounds was Houston’s own Chris Brown taking on Chris Preece. This fight was all about the Muay Thai clinch, knees and takedowns. In all three rounds Brown had Preece in a clinch giving him devastating knees to the face but what a chin Preece has he was taking those knees like nobody’s business. Brown would clinch and take down Preece with hard body slams. This was the story throughout the entire fight. Chris Brown def. Chris Preece unanimous decision (30-27). Up next was Austin Wourms vs. Ernesto Salvidrez another quick fight that only lasted 1:57 in the first round as Ernesto def. Austin by ground and pound. Another fight that finished in the first round was Nathaniel Gomez vs. Austin Lewis. Nathaniel takes down Austin down and def. him by strikes at the 1:33 mark. Daniel Nieto took on Rene Cedillo this fight only took Rene 49 sec in Round 1 to defeat Nieto via strikes.

The featured amateur fight was for the King of the Cage Southwest Amateur Lightweight Title. Jesse Martinez from Santa Fe, New Mexico (Santa Fe BJJ MMA) against Javier Rodriguez from El Paso, Texas (US AK Team Punishment). It didn’t take long for Jesse to finish this fight, it only took him 17 sec in Round 1 to finish the fight with a devastating head kick. And now the New KOTC SW Amateur 155lb Champion Jesse Martinez.